MEI Eagles senior volleyball teams head to provincials

The MEI Eagles senior boys and girls volleyball teams battle against the best in the province starting today (Wednesday).

The BC School Sports senior volleyball provincials are set to crown champions this week, and the MEI Eagles are in the mix on both the girls’ and the boys’ side.

The girls will have home court advantage as the AA girls tournament occurs at all three MEI school gyms starting on Thursday.

The 16 girls teams all check in today, with an ’80s-themed banquet kicking off the festivities at 6 p.m. tonight (Wednesday).

The Eagles senior girls team is coming off a second-place showing at the Fraser Valley regional final, after falling to arch-rival Langley Christian Secondary on Nov. 17. Eagles players Janelle Loewen and Ashley Huberts, both expected to be important pieces at the provincials, earned all-star spots at the regionals.

The girls are ranked second in the province heading into the tournament, and have been slotted into Pool B with Valleyview Secondary from Kamloops, Burnaby’s St. Thomas More Collegiate and Kwalikum Secondary.

The Eagles open against Kwalikum on Thursday at 11:30 a.m., and then take on STMC at 2 p.m. MEI closes out the round robin against Valleyview at 4:30 p.m. All Eagles round-robin games occur inside the high school gym.

The playoffs run on Friday and Saturday, with a skills challenge occurring on Friday morning from 9 to 10 a.m. The gold medal game occurs inside the middle school gym at 5:30 p.m., and an awards ceremony follows at 7:30 p.m.

The boys travel to the Langley Events Centre for their provincial final event, which begins today (Wednesday).

The Eagles recently earned bronze at the Fraser Valleys on Nov. 18 after defeating Langley Fundamental in the bronze game. Eagles player Colton Loewen was selected as a tournament all-star.

MEI has been placed in Pool A, and will take on LCS, Pacific Academy and Langley Fundamental in round-robin play. The Eagles open against LCS at 10:45 a.m., then take on Pacific Academy at 1:15 p.m. and close off the opening day against Langley Fundamental at 3:45 p.m.

The playoffs run from Thursday to Saturday, with the AA gold medal being awarded on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Last year saw the Eagles senior boys and girls teams earn gold at the provincials.

In other MEI volleyball news, both the Eagles junior boys and girls teams placed fourth at provincials, which wrapped up on Nov. 26.

Read next week’s edition of the Abbotsford News for a complete recap on the Eagles results in both tournaments.